


Taste The Heat

by ficcionariadealma



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Angst and Humor, Enemies to Lovers, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Food, Humor, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 16:21:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29778840
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ficcionariadealma/pseuds/ficcionariadealma
Summary: A date.Two foodies wanting to fall in love meet for coffee through an app with profiles created by friends.What could possibly go so wrong with just that?Until they meet face to face and everything about that date they had three years ago comes back.The worst date they ever had, one that neither could forget to date.There is a saying that goes the first impression is the one that counts but maybe that is bullshit cause another saying goes, there are less than two steps from love to hate and from hate to love and people do change their minds.10 dates but a lot in between.Will they get along and more over the last course?Let´s see how hungry you are to find out.
Relationships: Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina
Comments: 35
Kudos: 65





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally an idea after watching the television series ´Foodie Love´that i truly liked but then i thought a romantic fic would be too easy, i´m writing The Lady of Lilies as well and even when it is a slow burn, it is pure romance, so i thought about shaking this one a little bit and make it an angst meets love and smut on the way kind of story. It will have humor, as well or it would be an unbearable drama, hahaha and a lot of sexual tension.
> 
> It´s been a long time since i wrote angst, i have to confess i truly missed my masochist nature. I hope you enjoy this story, i don´t know how long it will be but i´m really excited to share it with you. Hopefully you will feel the same way and let me know what you think about this first chapter.
> 
> Thanks for stopping by ans enjoy! 
> 
> ~

A date. Another one of those blind dates she actually hated so much.

For her those three words were as terrifying as the ´I love you´ declaration when you hear it and you are not ready to say it back.

She didn't know how it happened, maybe she was still dreaming and it was a nightmare and this was the moment when she desperately wanted to wake up. Once again she was ready for that last bite of dessert left on the plate, that one bite that keeps gazing at you, judging you because you've already eaten too much and still you can't help but go on and devour it. That last bite you always have on a whim even when you already knew ist taste, sweet or sour and yet you have to have it out of mere gluttony.  


Once again she was on death row waiting to be executed because time continued to prove her right and up to that moment no date had ended that known martyrdom of starting from scratch with someone believing that she would find the love of her life over coffee.

"Damn you, romantic movies", she thought.

It was true that no one had put a gun to her head to accept a blind date so she couldn't blame anyone else but that would be the version that she would repeat out loud if anyone asked. 

Reality was that she was just bored and she wanted to get out.

She had accepted a blind date for a little change in her life. Every time this moment happened, she repeated to herself that she was human and sinned because she was one in the group of the living who stumbled twice over the same stone. Or rather two multiplied by too many times when it came to stones or dates. And she knew it well, truth was she was tired of wearing the right shoes to end up tripping just the same and yet she kept walking anyway.

She wasn't sure why she kept saying yes, participating as if she was about to win the lottery, she no longer had doubts that she was the queen of masochists. But here she was again, once again, trying to look nice for what would probably be a wasted hour faking a smile until she finished that coffee shared with a stranger.

One more time. For an endless number of times ...

\- Basta! - she yelled looking in the mirror. It´s just coffee like so many others I have shared with someone. If I am lucky, I will have good coffee not burnt with someone handsome enough even if he is not Álvaro Antonio García Pérez. That´s it. I just hope he doesn't look at my breasts every two words.

She stared at the bedroom window, it was unbelievable. Was that the way the universe was laughing hard at her that day?

\- Fuck!

She couldn't believe it was raining as if the last rain over Madrid had matched the last time she had had a good ´meneo´. It wasn't what she had expected for that day but it was too late to cancel and she wasn't the kind of women to back down at the last minute because of a heavy drizzle.

She pressed her lips together in front of the mirror and ran the tip of one of her fingers softening the shine from her lipstick. She exhaled hard. She couldn't believe that she was in that place again, in front of the mirror talking to herself, only thing left was to ask out loud who was the fairest of them all like in a Disney animated film. And she would know she had already lost her mind. There were days when she thought she would die alone with her cat feeding on her and that no one would find her for several weeks. That thought like something out of a horror movie scared the shit out of her.

She believed that deep down she was still accepting dates because she wanted to prove destiny that maybe she had some luck and was able to find someone who wanted to spoon her on days like today when the sky was falling and that who could love her even when she was bad tempered like on days like this.

\- I don´t know if i´m crazy yet but i certainly will if I stay here - she said entangling her hair in a pencil so that it did not look like the mane of a lion.

She adjusted the belt of the camel trench coat she was wearing and looked at her cat on the bed. She was looking at her like she was Cheshire cat, she seemed to be smiling at her under her whiskers.

\- Don't look at me like that, believe me, i'm not as delicious as i look. Do not get any hopes up cause if everything goes more or less right, I will take off this damn trench at the end of the date to have sex, at least to remember what that was like. Don't wait up for me, Lisbon.

"Let's see if your date turns out to be wonderful for once, Alicia," she said aloud, feeling for a moment that girl lost in wonderland while grabbing the apartment keys.

~

\- Joder! 

She stood still holding her breath. That scream echoed in the place immediately, she had opened her mouth but not before closing the door of the coffee shop. She just hoped that no one had heard her, especially her date or her first impression would not be the best. She took a deep breath, still facing the door and looked u. How could she have thought that she would get a taxi in that storm? Not even if she had opened her trench coat wearing only lingerie like in a triple X movie.  


She looked at the tips of her shoes. Who had told her to wear heels that day? They were soaked and two seconds before full of water, so much so that she was sure she could add soluble coffee right in there and drink it directly from one of her shoes.

She closed her eyes, thinking of something nice that might save her looks. She was completely wet, obviously she looked awful, her hair was ruined, her mascara running, and a lipstick that must have left her the moment the first drop touched her face.

She smiled.

The lingerie.

The lacy burgundy lingerie that she was wearing under that trench, that she had bought after a century if it was possible that she could live to be over a hundred years was the most positive thing at that time and today was the day to share it with the world. Ok, not with so many people but at least with her date.  


She turned and rolled her eyes as if she was just looking around and didn't want the prime suspect in a crime to slip away just when she was about to arrest him. To her surprise no one was facing her and probably no one had heard her cursing as she thought. There were couples, holding hands, chatting and women and men alone if it wasn't for the loyal company of their laptops. There was no doubt that those were writers wanting to seek inspiration to write the next most interesting best seller or at least dream of that possibility. Now that she thought about the coffee shop was a pretty chic cafe, small, intimate, modern but it screamed that its regular clientele was the kind of people who looked for original stories whenever the front door opened and closed.

"Okay, he told me he'd have a red envelope on the table. Red envelope, red envelope", she said rolling her eyes. Hopefully, he won´t start this date by talking about the weather ori t would start out as a fiasco for sure.

Could it be that he hadn't arrived yet? What a first impression, she thought.

She raised her head and found a small table somewhat hidden near a column. There it was, the red envelope on the table and her date.  
She released her hair, flapped it a bit and walked a couple of steps ahead feeling how the soles of her feet made noise in the water that was reluctant to leave the inside of her shoes. She wasn't going to deny that she felt like a cow with a cowbell but fuck it. She was there already, on that to death row with the best smile.

\- ¨Lingerie, lingerie, think about yout lingerie, Raquel. Nothing can get worse now¨.

She suddenly stopped as if she was still on the street and a car had surprisingly splashed her from head to toe.

\- This has to be a joke.

She looked around, there were only three men alone and only one was carrying a red envelope.

That man who was waiting for her had just turned in his chair for a second, an instant that had been enough for her to remember everything about that date with him three years ago. She closed her eyes, it had to be a mistake, that thing on the table must have looked like an envelope but maybe it was a dark colored napkin. How she wished that a car would go off the street into that cafe to run her over pushing her against the wall leaving her as part of a modern painting that nobody understands. No, wait. It was better if the car ran him over because even when she was not the reincarnation of Mother Teresa, he deserved that ending much more that her.

It was him. Him.

Someone who she never imagined seeing again, who had been the worst date of her entire life even when she had had so many and met tons of strangers as to join a circus but who had been unforgettable because of how bad the date had gone with him. Because of him she had stopped accepting blind dates for six months out of fear of meeting someone like him or worse.

He must have been there since the cafe opened that morning. Waiting hour after hour, minute after minute, second after second and he had probably been silent the entire time, as if not to disturb even though he was a complete hassle. She bet he was already mad after coffee number 25.

She wanted to tell him so much, she wanted to laugh in his face because three years later he was still on blind dates if it weren't for the fact that she was on the same page. Actually, she wanted to grab the umbrella really tight and make his face turn blue by pressing his throat with it. How many years would she spend locked up if she pressed too hard? If they knew about the famous date, maybe she would get away with self-defense.

Now nothing could be worse. This was the lowest point of her day, of her week, of her year. Like when one hits rock bottom and the only thing left is to go up, she had to find something positive right now. She walked over to a mirror on her right, wiped her face with a handkerchief and fixed the mascara that had run under her eyes.

\- You need to go up, you have to go up, Raquel and you're already here. No way you are leaving this cafe like a coward.

Suddenly she no longer cared so much about her looks. First, it was him, and after walking ten blocks in the rain she planned to have coffee without caring about the company. She glanced at her wristwatch and kept walking.

He had been unforgettable, today she would be his unforgettable date.

For moment she squeezed the umbrella with the intention of using it but she decided to just hold it and simply inhale calmly.

\- Today I´m on time. Three o'clock - she said with a smile as she sat down in front of him, quickly hanging the umbrella and the bag on the back of the chair.

\- Sorr. Today? Do we-?

He blinked, it was as if he had seen a ghost. HIS face stiffened, he had suddenly forgotten how to speak.

She smiled.

\- What a surprrise, right? We meet again. I'm sure either of us expected it after that last time, that one time because one was enough.

\- Bu, but -

\- You´re waiting for Raquel, so you are waiting for me. I hope you at least remember my name because i am your date. Footnote addressed to me, stop accepting blind dates without finding out the last name of the person I am going to meet. Trust me i was about to ask but it seemed silly. They told me Sergio and i thought, that´s enough. If I had known it was you -

\- Well, it, it doesn't seem silly to me - he said, interrupting her while he adjusted his glasses by lifting them up his nose.

Shocker. It was so obvious that he had asked for her full name. She was not surprised at all. From what she remembered of that day, he seemed like a man who had everything planned since he had left his mother's womb, what career he would follow after graduation, what clothes to choose the night before to wear on the next day and the last names of his blind dates. Something so stupid that did not make the slightest sense to her.

Until today.

At that moment she knew that if that red envelope had been a post it, she would have written 'Find out the last name of the date before anything´ and she would be sticking it on her forehead herself.

-There must be a mistake, Andrés told me that i would meet a certain Raquel Murillo and your name is Raquel, I admit that it is a very valid coincidence, although according to statistics, coincidences do not exist.

She lowered her chin and looked up. Does he have his nose inside a book right now talking about statistics during this date?

\- What I mean is that if I remember correctly, your last name is -

\- Vicuña, yes. It was the last name of my ex-husband, the asshole. When you met me, my divorce was not final and it was easier for me to keep that last name. THAT is silly, not only to have keptthat last name for another day after leaving him but to have changed mine for that one int he first place. Those things of a young woman in love and, above all, of an idiot in love.

\- "So you are my date¨- he said as he gulped and leaned back on the chair, resigned, once more adjusting his glasses.

\- That's right, Raquel Murillo. Let´s forget about the ´It´s a pleasure´ part, shall we?

Raquel turned looking for the waitress.

\- Look, uh ... we know that this will not work. You and i -

Raquel glanced back at him as he pressed his glasses on his nose.

\- You have changed - she said, interrupting him as if she hadn't heard a word of what he was saying.

\- You are wearing glasses, do you have a tic or something? You adjusted them like three times, always in the same way with your thumb and index finger since I arrived and it was not more than five minutes ago.

\- 4 minutes and 20 seconds to be exact - he said looking at the watch on his wrist.

\- Joder! You haven't changed that much - she said with an ironic smile- You're still just as relaxed, huh?

\- Madame - said the waitress who had just approached the table.

\- Yes, i will have a frozen mocha. Short.

\- Of course and you, sir?

\- Um ... another coffee, just that - he said somewhat uncomfortable.

\- Can i take your umbrela? - said the waitress.

\- Yes, of course. There you go.

The waitress walked away and they both stared for a moment.

Who would break the ice in 3, 2…?

\- You, you are not going to take off your coat? - he said clearing his throat.

\- No, I'm fine like this. Don't you think you should ask me to dinner first?

He looked at her, confused.

\- Relax, i´m just kidding. Don't worry, I have no intention of taking anything in front of you.

He adjusted his glasses again, more uncomfortable than before.

It wasn't like she had hurt his feelings, that man probably didn't have any of those. Furthermore, she knew he didn't want to see her without her clothes either, not even if she was the last woman on earth.

\- Are you going to take off that librarian suit?

She leaned her elbows on the table and fixed her eyes on him. She knew that comment would upset him, she was seeing it clearly in the way he was clenching his jaw.

-If you say that because of the suit, I came right from a work meeting - he said touching the tie and adjusting the collar of the shirt.

\- Well, lucky me. You can recommend me a book then.

He looked down and gritted his teeth.

Was it a smile he was showing on that tense body?

\- Well, to be fair, you have also changed.

\- Oh yeah? I'm surprised you remember how I looked that day, I don't think the date lasted long enough for you to pay attention to me. But be careful what you say, huh? I don't need the umbrella to smack you in the head.

\- The hair. Your hair was blonder and well, neater too - he added as if he was adding the Cherry on top of the most delicious dessert, winner of an international award.

She touched her hair fast, that comment had taken her by surprise but far from bothering her, it had given her with more confidence, one that she believed she had lost on her last date. Hopefully the coffee they brought him in seconds would be cyanide or at least that it would be burnt. How bad she wished that he had visited that place bedore and had left such a bad tip that now the waitress would remember that and give him dirty water instead of coffee.

\- Raquel, we are wasting time here. We are not -

\- You really have a problem with time, huh? Look, let's play a game.

He loosened his tie a bit, annoyed. He seemed to be speaking Chinese because she wasn't listening to him at all.

\- I'm not asking you to fuck me on this table. It's a game like that word association game but here you have to choose between two options. If you answer honestly, only the truth will come out of your mouth even when you don't have time to think about the answer.

-I think I better pay for the coffees and leave it like this as if it this date had never happened - he said grabbing his looking for money.

Raquel grabbed his hand on the table and studied him carefully. She wanted a damn coffee after she has been walking in heels to get to a date that she also wanted to erase but that man's impudence was driving her crazy. It was as if he was trying to say that spending time with her was like having the plague and that he should flee from her right away. 

That was infuriating her.

They could be water and oil, north and south, ice and fire, but she wouldn't let him treat her like that as if her presence was unpleasant even though she was sure her looked like shit right now. She hadn't kept her coat on, one that already weighed like hell because it was completely soaked so that he could escape like a coward.

She just wanted a damn coffee and if he wanted so badly to prove that this date could be more disastrous than the one they had before, she was going to help him with that.

\- We already ordered. It is rude to make people work for nothing. You ordered, you wait. One coffee with me won´t kill you - she said looking into his eyes.  
He rolled his eyes and left the money on the table.

If he didn't put it away, it was because he wanted to leave soon. Did he thought she didn't? But at least she wanted to drink a coffee that would warm her up enough to go back to her house. 

He really believed he was doing her a favor. Such insolence!

\- Ok, what is the first thing you see in a woman?

\- What? - he said straightening in the chair as if someone had slapped him in the face out of nowhere.

\- The question is simple and don´t tell me it´s the eyes if you don´t mean it because I will know.

\- Are we really going to do this? - he asked nervous, adjusting his suit.

"Your annoyance, my encouragement to go on", she thought.

\- Come on, this will be quick. Also, coffee will be here soon.

\- I, i don't know - he said, practically getting mixed up with three silly words.

\- Come on! We all know what we want. Don´t think. 1, 2 -

\- The, the, the smile, okay? Happy? What, what if i had said the eyes - he asked, adjusting his glasses again.

\- It would have been ok, as long as you really didn´t mean ´ass´.

She smiled and he looked down immediately.

Amazing. Seriously, he was blushing after hearing a word like 'ass'.

\- So, beach or mountain?

-Eh ... mountain - he said touching his forehead. Why was that coffee taking so long.

\- I´m more of a beach girl. I love the heat. Pizza or pasta?

\- Pasta - he said, rolling his eyes through his teeth.

\- Pizza. Books or movies?

\- How long are we going to do this? - he said looking at the watch on his wrist.

\- Do you have something better to do? We are on a date.

\- Fine. Books.

\- Movies. Blondes or brunettes?

\- Brunettes.

For the first time he hadn't hesitated. He fixed his gaze on her, he wasn't actually sure of that answer. He had suddenly spoken without thinking.

\- Touché. That was quick- she gulped and cleared her throat - If you had been my ideal date, you would have broken my heart before we knew each other better.

He opened his mouth to explain himself but the waitress interrupted them with the order. He really had no idea what it was like to be a gentleman. But his answers only proved her right, now he would swallow his coffee and end that blind date.

\- Saved by coffee.

\- Shall I leave you sweetener, white sugar, brown?

\- If you had come two seconds earlier, the man would have answered both of us and perhaps we would have agreed on the answer - Raquel said with a forced smile as she drowned the ice in her mocha imagining that he was that ice and the little spoon, a sharp pin - Sweetener for me. Thanks.

\- Sir?

Raquel stopped stirring the coffee. Both women, the brunette and the blonde watched him carefully.

\- Uh ... sugar. Leave, leave them both - he said feeling how that already loose tie tightened him.

They both looked down, she tore a sweetener packet and stared at him for a moment. She couldn't believe that he was choosing a white sugar packet with such care as if he was about to mix acid with another substance. It was a fucking sugar packet. 

\- Three things you love - she said, taking a sip of coffee.

\- I thought we were done - he said while stirring the coffee.

\- Almost. Three things.

\- Chess. Uh ... challenges and, and food.

\- My daughter. Desserts. Kisses. Three things you hate.

\- Unpunctuality. The beach and everything that has to do with it and ... eating alone.

Raquel lowered the cup touching her lips and opened her eyes as if he was dazzling her with the lights of a car.

Oh boy, that last one sounded like intimate information. Now that was a surprise coming from him.

\- Drinks with those colored umbrellas that are useless. People who lie. Eating alone - she answered - How would you like to start the new year?

\- The new year…? Well, I, I don't know, drinking good wine, I guess, eating good food ...

\- And then? The year is ending just now, answer without thinking.

\- I, i don't know, I guess reading a book i like. You?

\- Fucking someone as if the year that is leaving wasn´t ending and the next one wouldn´t exist - she said with a smile - Without thinking what burns us the most comes out.

She rested her arms on the table looking into his eyes forcing him to gaze at her. She wanted to make him uncomfortable and boy was she doing it right, she couldn't believe that just the word 'fuck' had been enough. 

He was sweating right down to the tips of hIs beard but she wasn't really surprised at all that sex made him nervous. Too bad he had loosened the tie otherwise it would be a good time to take the final thrust by adjusting it around his neck.

She had seen him twice and she disliked him so much. She drank what was left in the small cup and smiled again.

\- A coffee. Done. I told you that was enough.

\- Enough for what?

\- To prove you right. Let's put it this way, you and I insult compatibility just by sharing the same space. We are like black and white, we don´t get along. Also, it has stopped raining and I have warmed up already. 

\- So, goodbye, Sergio.

~

Raquel left the cafe without turning back thanking the sky because it had stopped raining.

\- I can not believe I was going to take off my trench coat at the end of this date. Just thinking about showing him my lingerie, showing it to him-  
She was adjusting the belt of her coat when the cell phone started vibrating in her pocket.

What was he doing calling her? Did she forget something inside?

\- Hello?...

\- You're right, we are not compatible at all but we agree on one thing. We don´t like to eat alone and considering we are not seeing other people at the moment, we could at least meet for that. You have to eat like any other human. Oh, and in case you didn't know, black and white get along if you want to create gray.

Raquel leaned against a column next to the coffee shop and looked down, smiling.

The worst date of her life to date was also a know-it-all. She peeked out and watched him out the window. He could´t even relax when talking on the phone, although his voice seemed to be betraying him. It was obviously easier for him when he didn't have to face another human being. She still doubted if he was actually a damn robot like those from star wars trapped in the body of a human.

It was true that the last bite she always had responded to gluttony but it was always the one that left her the most satisfied and that is how she felt now without even started eating.

Too bad you didn't choose someone else like you choose sugar packets, Sergio Marquina. A real shame because you are going to regret it - she thought as she smiled seeing him through the window.

He liked challenges and he had just become hers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you all for the ones that read the beginning of this fic a week ago!  
> I truly hope you find it more interesting with each chapter, i love translating it to english but it takes time and it would really help if you let me know what you think of what you read or at least let me know if you like it if you really do enjoy it.  
> Anyway, enjoy and have a great week.

-  
I never said no to a challenge, she thought while closing the door of the taxi. 

She looked around. Ten blocks away from the center where all the cool bars and restaurants were and now she was left on a long dark street where not even the last bar of that most fashionable area dared to say hi. Something was clear, though. At that moment and with the taxi driving away, she was more alone than Hitler on Friendship Day.

Alcantara 33, my ass, she said out loud. On that street there was nothing but buildings, a parking lot, and in front of her, what appeared to be an ice cream parlor with neon lights that probably could be seen from Mars but which appeared to be a good sign to scare off a potential rapist.

She would smoke a cigarette and then call another taxi to get out of there asap.

Of course that would happen if she did not get robbed or raped before and all tthese thoughts happened because she had only agreed to see him again. She had agreed to have dinner with him, with the only man on earth she knew she could end the date doing anything but fucking despite wanting to do it so badly. Truth was, she no longer remembered what it was like to be touched. 

But fucking and Sergio Marquina would never be in the same sentence.

She wanted to be touched but not by him, not even if she was drunk like a fish. That's why she had chosen regular lingerie today, she didn't have panties like Bridget Jones' but she hadn´t cared to combine the colors of her underwear.

She was tired of watching Netflix with Lisbon on a Friday night like today and she had accepted out of boredom and well mainly to see how she could screw up his night, Sergio Marquina´s night. Especially because she could not forget the rage of the previous week in that cafe when the chance of finding the prince charming had vanished because of him. Because he had taken away the possibility of meeting someone else that day, he had gotten in her way, in her destiny and now although she did not know how yet, he would pay.

From one moment to another the prince of the story had faded and she was one step away from seeing the fairy godmother with lovelier eyes.

How was it possible that the universe had fooled her and not once but twice with the same person?

Well, actually the universe had nothing to do with it unless it had a first and last name. She lit a cigarette and inhaled the smoke remembering that moment when she almost went to jail but not for wanting to kill her date but the person who had made her go to that cafe and made her waste an hour from her life that she would never get back with someone she couldn't bear.

~

\- I can't believe I let you create a profile, my profile on that dating app and send me to the slaughterhouse with no remorse. That's where I'm going to send you after this. It was the first and last time, do you hear me? Never again.

She was all wet, with her makeup running and talking with a hoarse voice that far from being the result of a wonderful orgasm marathon was more like a voice of someone ready to catch a cold.

\- You will not say anything? - she said annoyed while she dried her hair with a towel.

\- Eh ... because of the way your coat is strangling you, I would say that you never got to release that sexy lingerie that we bought, right?

She lowered her chin and opened her eyes as if she was about to shoot him with two powerful X-rays.

\- You should have let me see his photo, Martín.

\- Let's see, the application was on your mobile, Raquel. It's not like you needed a special code, it's a dating app, not a confidential Pentagon document. You could have reviewed or canceled it at any time. You told me that you trusted me, I saw the photo, I thought he was handsome, I gave him ok and then he sent me the address of the cafe.

\- Don't be a smart ass! I just came from being with the King of the Smart Ass Legion. You know that I don't know how to use apps. Paula downloaded the ones I have and I don't think I've opened any yet.

\- Was the date that bad? Don't tell me he was bald and fat and just uploaded a photo of a model, because sometimes that happens, huh?

\- If you consider the date we had three years ago, this was amazing. In the first one we almost killed each other, in this last one, we simply tolerated each other less than before.  
Martín took a cushion from the sofa and held it tight, widening his eyes.

\- Sergio was… your date was with Sergio Marquina? Fuck me!

\- You see, you don't know him and you still know who I'm talking about. You knew his name, you should have told me, damn it. And also ... don't overdo it, huh? A model? From a biology book being his potos, the photo of an amoeba.

\- But how could I not know the name if it was your horror date, the one you always mention as if the devil himself had invited you on a date in hell and you had ended up burned from head to toes? And I did not tell you because in those apps, you don´t include last names. Many of those men are cheaters, piratas, as we say in Argentina and those do not add "cheating on my wife" in the profile.

\- Can you believe he told me that he preferred brunettes on my face? Right in front of me. That guy is a shameless.

-Wow, he really does not know how to be around a woman, huh? Look, even I have it with women and I like men.

\- Wait but then, how did he know that I'm Raquel Murillo now?

\- No idea, in the profile I just wrote ´Raquel´. Like i said, no last names and sometimes the names are not the real ones either so I have no fucking idea. In the profiles, you look for the photo first and then what it says about that person and even if your name is Filomena, if you're hot like you, that's enough.

Raquel rolled her eyes and he looked up at the ceiling immediately.

He had just fucked it up.

\- Martín Berrote, what did you write on my profile? - she asked, taking off her soaked trench coat, grabbing the belt wanting to tighten it around his neck.

-Eh ... nothing, nothing, nonsense - he answered as he grabbed the glass of water from the table, drinking it slowly.

Raquel took the glass from his hand immediately, spilling some of the water on the floor.

\- Since when do you like water, Martín? That the only transparent thing you like is vodka and the underwear of your men. Wait a minute, but if you saw the photo, he also saw my photo and still wanted to have a date with me.

She was silent, thoughtful. She took a deep breath, she had had the opportunity to kill him and she lost her chance because she did not want to leave her daughter as an orphan. Alberto did not count, he was useless.

\- Son of a bitch - she said through clenched teeth. I should have killed him.

\- What's up, Raquel?

-Eh ... nothing, nothing - she answered still thoughtful - Hey and the profile, i don´t forget, you are going to show me later. Delete it and I'll kill you, okay?

~

She blinked when she remembered the reason she was there, alone on that dark street. She wanted to face him, she wanted to see his face when she told him what an asshole he was for wanting to humiliate her once more after seeing the photo of her on the dating app. However, she believed that the joke was on her already because apparently he had chosen a place to meet where there was nothing.

Hanoi Restaurant, Yeah, sure.

Of course, she would search for him everywhere after this until she found him. If necessary she would learn how to use that stupid app, she would create a fake profile, choose him as her date and make him pay for this prank.

She had not much patience left already and she was getting closer and closer to being left without a mobile or without clothes or both and the worst thing was that today even when she was not wearing high heels but black boots, they did not allow her to run too fast if something happened. Although perhaps one of those would be a good weapon to stick it in the eye of someone approaching her with anything but good intentions. Including Sergio Marquina. Especially him.

She put out the cigarette on the sole of her boot, it would be best to take it off and have it in her hand just in case her thoughts were correct and someone came to interrupt her peace and especially the silent way in which she was planning to kill him. 

Now it was time to call a cab. She grabbed the mobile with the other hand but it was difficult to jump on one foot, not even crazy she would step on that dirty sidewalk. All that movement made her turn around violently. Suddenly she froze, her foot falling to the ground without warning.

Hanoi. Restaurant.

She had just imagined a whole horror action movie without ever turning around to find the restaurant in question. And all because of him.

It didn´t matter if the place existed, she was not leaving until she found out how he knew she was Raquel Murillo.

-  
She put her boot back on and opened the door. She rolled her eyes, it was strange, that place was full of books.

A fucking library? Seriously? What kind of joke was that?

She walked a few steps, there was no one there either. Maybe she had the wrong direction but one thing was clear, she believed that it would be best to take off her boot again in case the danger was inside and not outside as she had imagined.

She lowered the zipper to remove it once again when a man's voice startled her.

\- Excuse me, if you are looking for ´The Origami´, it is that door with the red bird.

\- The Origami? - she asked confused.

Had she gotten out of that taxi and fallen into one of those episodes of the Twilight Zone and hadn't realized it? Or was she in some kind of game where everyone was plotting with him?

\- The Origami. The bar. Go through that door, don't be afraid.

She smiled. She watched him walk away, and she immediately removed her boot.

She opened the door with that huge drawing of a red bird and suddenly she did seem to fall into an unknown dimension. It was full of people and it was far from being a restaurant, much less one he could be visit often.

People made their way as if she had the plague, even though it was really because they were too drunk to stand on their feet. She had to find out if he was there. In any case, before going home, she would have a drink to save the night. She had decided not to go back home without at least a drop of alcohol even if she was to finish her Friday night doing a Friends marathon with Lisbon.

She was already thinking about the drink that she would order and that she would try to stay calm if it had one of those little colorful umbrellas that she hated so much when she saw him in a corner. 

He was alone, sitting at a small table, once again wearing a librarian outfit, which might look good in the front of that hidden place but in that bar, he looked completely ridiculous. But not only his clothes were not right, he looked like a scared prey waiting to be eaten by all those people, other hungry animals and hunters who instead of having drinks seemed to have big shotguns ready to fire.

She felt sorry for him for a second, that did not seem to be his kind of place and now she was dying to know the story behind that choice.

She walked a few steps and pressed her lips not to laugh. He didn't seem to be enjoying anything.

\- Did you called me to meet me in a library that has a bar? What is this? Clark Kent's house that after sunset becomes Superman's?

He looked up, his eyes levelled her breasts all of the sudden.

\- First, this is not a, a date, he said with a shaky voice, adjusting his glasses with the thumb and index finger, lowering his gaze again – Second, you are late. Unpunctuality is something that I do not tolerate, I thought i made myself clear the other day - he said, looking at his wristwatch.

\- Hear me out, first we are not in school and you are not going to punish me for being late a few minutes.

He opened his mouth to talk lifting his wrist with the watch at the same time that she raised her index finger.

\- Don't you dare tell me how many minutes and seconds I've been late because you're going to know me well and it´s not gonna be pretty. If you had written me the coordinates of Superman's cave, party place, whatever, I would have arrived on time, don't you think?

He fixed his eyes on her.

\- I did. Don't you check your mobile? - he asked firmly as a school principal.

She looked down at her bag. She had never checked her mobile. She reached inside, and turned it on. Low battery. The story of her life. She had five missed calls and five text messages.

And all of the same contact: The librarian.

That was how she had added him. It was either that or ´The Undesirable Smart Ass´. ´The librarian´ sounded funnier.

\- Text messages seemed like a much modern way to reach you than coordinates. Text messages that you seem to see for the first time because of your face - he said, smiling briefly.

There he was again, The Undesirable Smart Ass.

Raquel breathed hard, she looked like a dragon spitting fire from her nostrils. She hated to agree with him. She hated that he was smiling behind that stone statue face.

\- Look, I was not going to worry about checking my mobile on a date, excuse me but I can't find another word and by that I don't mean anything romantic, huh? I am far from wanting something like that with you. What i mean is that when a guy like you tell me to meet him in a dark place, at this hour, where there is no one around, i have other things on my mind. I was much more concerned for my safety. And don´t get me wrong, it´s not that I can't defend myself, i just don´t like to be they way i was out there. If I can deal with you I can handle everything, believe me.

Sergio lowered his gaze, touched the knot in his tie, and cleared his throat. 

\- You're right, i should have been a gentleman and wait for you at the door but you were late and I was afraid of not being able to find a table when you arrived.

Raquel gazed at him, confused. Now she was the one who seemed to have become a statue.

Was he really agreeing with her, Sergio - I'm never wrong - Marquina? He looked really sorry or maybe his tie was choking him too much and he was gasping for air and talked nonsense. She blinked.

\- You were more concerned about a table, why is it that I am not surprised by that coming from you?

She was feeling confident again, al lof the sudden. She sat next to him leaving a space that could occupy a person and a half.

\- Anyway, are you going to tell me what are we doing in this bar behind a library that was supposed to be called Hanoi and was supposed to be a restaurant?  


\- There is a logical explanation – he said quickly.

\- Ufff, I'm dying to hear it. The clock is ticking and i want a drink.

\- Okay, you'll see this place was always a library that i visited often.

\- You see? I am right again. A Librarian spirit even if you deny it.

\- Yes, I like libraries, I like books, i admit it but my suits have nothing to do with that - he said, adjusting his glasses for the second time – They are just… formal.

Raquel lowered her gaze, watching him closely.

\- You are telling me this in a suit and tie in a place where thanks to human heat, it is at least 25 degrees.

He sighed.

\- Do you want me to tell you the story or not? - he said with an annoyed tone.

Raquel gave him a little smile and crossed her arms, nodding her head.

\- Sometimes I stayed in the library till it closed - Raquel pursed her lips, she was trying to be made of marble - and behind there was a fine and elegant restaurant that could be accessed through the library, where you came in or through another door on the side street. I confess that I haven't been here for a long time and it was only when I arrived that I found out that Hanoi is still a library, but the restaurant is now a bar called El Origami. At one point it makes sense, if you think about it.

\- I don't think about it.

He frowned.

\- What I mean is that the library has books with pages that are papers and origami is a Japanese term, it is the art of folding paper. Paper and paper. Everything connects - he said lowering his gaze and raising his glasses.

He was sweating now. Was it because of the suit, because he was really running out of air or did he want the ground to swallow him up for that clarification?

On someone else it could have sounded sweet but in hi, she was sure he just wanted to be a smart ass one more time.

\- Wow, what you origami means is everything I wanted to learn on a Friday night.

He rolled his eyes in silence. He regretted having told her about the Japanese art that he liked best. Nor was that worth mentioning either now.

\- Let's go get a drink. If we're not going to eat, let's at least have that – she said.

After a few attempts, Raquel convinced him to leave the table, clearly no one would stop dancing to occupy it. They approached the bar amid the human tide and Raquel looked sideways.

Those little colorful umbrellas of hell were part of all the drinks.

\- May I have a beer? - she yelled at the bartender with a smile.

Raquel looked away over her shoulder and met Sergio´s eyes and his discomfort even though she wasn't sure which came first.

\- Eh ... you are way too close, i can feel your, well you know - she said, opening her eyes as if she was an owl - Move a little.

He lowered his gaze and there it was the tiniest space between the two of them. He suddenly felt his cheeks red hot.

\- I am sorry, i did not realize. It's just that -

\- Are you looking at my ass right now? - she interrupted him - I thought the first thing you saw in a woman was the smile. I knew it, it was the ass.

\- What? No, I'm sorry, it´s just that these people are pushing me from all sides and you told me that you could feel my, my - I wanted to move.

\- Do you hate when people are late? I hate lies, I also thought i had made myself clear the other day. If you don't yell, you're going to end up ordering a drink tomorrow. Tell me, what do you want?

\- Uh ... a beer.

Raquel turned her gaze back to the bar with a small, victorious smile. She wasn´t feeling anything but it was just the thought of seeing him uncomfortable and sweating that made it worth her stay there.

Sergio tried to move but it was crowded, he was trying to hold his breath at least but not even that was possible. Even if he didn't want to focus on it, the perfume of his non date was exquisite and he could not help but feel somehow intoxicated by it.

They returned to the table, both starting drinking at the same time and kept gong without pause, gazing at each other in the shadows.

He had seen her photo.

Suddenly it was not so important to know the reason why he knew her last name, it was clear that he had agreed to meet her for the second time in that cafe to recall how he had screwed her the first time. He had had the opportunity to apologize but he had missed it, of course no good gesture could come from him. Another reason to believe that he was a robot without feelings.

I'm bored and tired of drinking alone and that's why I'm here, she thought as she stared at him.

She wouldn't tell him that she hadn't written her own profile if he didn't ask about it.

He found her looking into his eyes, neither of them stopped drinking.

She had seen his photo.

And although he was an expert at solving puzzles and guessing, he did not understand why she had agreed to meet him one more time in that cafe. Of course, when it came to personal relationships, he had the same knowledge as dating apps, but he didn't understand why.

He blinked and suddenly he saw Andrés with a whiskey in his hand sitting in that huge space that separated them at that table.

~

\- I'm going to kill you, Andrés - he whispered - Why didn't you tell me it was THAT Raquel? Once i let you do something silly and this happens. It´s my fault for allowing you to do something this crazy.

\- You're absolutely right, little brother. If you learned how to use technology you would not have these problems.

\- But you saw the photo and you didn't say anything, damn it.

\- Yes, I remember I told you she was gorgeous and she is, right? Look at her.

Sergio kept silent and drank again while staring at her.

\- The point is that you too would have seen the photo if you stopped being so prehistoric. Look at it this way, Sergio - he gazed at them both – Call it… fate - he said in a poetic tone, smiling as he raised his chin at the same time he raised the glass of whiskey in his hand as if he was part of an a performance at the Opera.

~

\- Fate, my ass - he said out loud.

She had accepted another date with him because she wanted revenge and he was sure she was preparing something against him.

\- What? Raquel asked and he blinked immediately.

He looked at the space between them, Andrés was not there. He had never been there.

\- Uh ... nothing, nothing. I think we should go, it is already late and it´s too crowded.

\- Yes, you're right. Besides, I finished my beer and I want to smoke.

He wouldn't tell her that he hadn't written his own profile if she didn't ask about it.

They went outside, she was about to light a cigarette when she saw a taxi. She raised her hand and deconds later, the taxi stopped in front of her. She opened the door.

\- Wait.

Raquel turned.

\- You won't expect me to pay for the beer, will you? You were the one making the mistake.

He gritted his teeth, he could not be nice with her for once although he believed he deserved her reaction.

\- Of course not. I invited you. I just wanted to apologize because we were going to have dinner but it all went wrong.

So much for a déjà vu, Raquel thought. That apology was three years late, he was apologizing for this date but he had not said anything to her about the first one when they met again.

She hated his boldness so much.

\- Clearly you do not remember things well or you remember what suits you, right? – she asked.

Raquel approached him, once again that prey smelled of fear.

\- You owe me a dinner but to avoid surprises liek today, I choose the next place - she touched the knot of his tie and he gulped - Loosen up, Marquina, I have no intention of biting you at all.

The taxi drove off.

For the first time he remembered something positive from that day that he had tried to erase so many times. The sweet perfume of his date three years ago was the same he had felt on her tonight.

He knew he could have said it to her as a compliment but she wouldn't have accepted it. It was clear that she only wanted to meet him again to get revenge.

Raquel turned and looked at him one last time. Sooner or later she was going to have to loosen that librarian tie that was already driving her crazy and it was better sooner than later. She had just had a crazy idea.

She smiled.

She was going to push him out of his comfort zone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are always welcome ;)
> 
> You will know what was written in their profiles eventually and how Andrés knows about Raquel´s last name.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are always welcome ;)


End file.
